Of Weakness and Strength
by Verela
Summary: A hindrance. That's all he is; ...yet Alaude couldn't understand. Why did he care so much for him in the end? Not shounen-ai or yaoi; but probably some hints according to how your imagination works.


_Disclaimer: If I own KHR, then Primo won't be Tsuna's great-great-great grandfather~ :3_

_Rated: T just to be safe_

_Warning: Grammar errors and slightly OOC Alaude?_

_One-shot_

_Inspired by: _Tumblr (lunarstinger, checksandbowties, avatarjenny)

_Dedicated to: __celestial-ways-of-life_

'…_Where am I?'_

Icy blue eyes fluttered open as Alaude looked around, silently wondering to himself about his current whereabouts. It was too dark, way too dark for even his liking. He was sure that he wasn't at the mansion. He was sure that this was some kind of a torture chamber. True, he couldn't make out a thing from the darkness surrounding him at the moment, but the smell of the fresh blood was all too familiar to him to go unnoticed.

The cloud guardian was about to stand up when he noticed something; the sound of metals being moved. Frowning slightly at the sound, he narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out the source of the sound. It was only when he moved, did he realize the source. Looking at his hands, his sharp eyes caught a small glint.

…Handcuffs?

Growling in annoyance, the blonde tried to break through the handcuffs, only to find that the handcuffs were connected to the wall behind him. The silence went on for a few seconds before he finally decided to sit back down. Even though Alaude was known as the harsh, fighting lover cloud Guardian, but he was also the head of CEDEF, which meant that he was intelligent. The situation he's in, it would be a waste of time to try to break through the handcuffs. Hey, he wasn't Giotto, who was good in combat skills. He wasn't good in strength, but in strategy and weapons' usage. Even if he had managed to break through it, he still wouldn't be able to get out of here easily anyway. The enemy would have found him first before he could even escape from this room. How did he get into this kind of situation anyway?

"…Why?" he mused quietly.

~o~O~o~

_Sunday morning | 08:00 A.M._

A sigh escaped Giotto's lips as he stared at the amount of the paperwork that he still had. Rubbing his temples, he could only close his eyes briefly before his responsible side kicked in once more. Scribbling his signature one by one on the proposals, his vision grew blurry for a while before he blinked.

'What was that…?' he thought. Shrugging the thought off, the mafia boss stood up. Taking off his cloak and putting it on the chair, he went to the dining room for his breakfast. Cue to his arrival, the guards opened the big gate of the dining room, revealing all of the guardians, sitting on their respective seats, waiting for him to sit down at the head of the table.

Letting out a small, tired sigh, Giotto took his seat on the throne chair by the end of the long table. Looking at the chef, he nodded slightly, signaling him and the waiters to bring out the food.

"Yare, yare~ you're finally here, Primo," Lampo said lazily, being the one who's been waiting for the food most eagerly. The mafia boss simply nodded, not being able to really comprehend what the lightning guardian was saying to him. He was about to close his eyes and rested for a while when he noticed the worried frown from his storm guardian.

G's frown though, deepened when he stared at his boss, who's staring back at him; but blankly. Giving off a small, reassuring smile, the blonde sat back up straight, trying to prove to G that he's really fine; when he's sure that he's not. As all of the food was finally placed on the table, everyone started to pick up the utensils. It wasn't long before they all started eating.

Amidst the peaceful atmosphere though, there just had to be a man who decided to mess everything up. "Nufufu~ by the way, Primo~ here," Daemon said as he handed a brown envelope to the blonde. Frowning slightly, the mafia Don took it and pocketed it. "You're not supposed to give me… this… now, you know," he said as he continued eating, not knowing the content of the envelope.

"What's inside that envelope anyway?" G asked, clearly annoyed that the peaceful atmosphere had been broken. The answer though, dropped the peaceful atmosphere completely.

"Nufufu~ Let's see~ The bill for the destruction of a high-class restaurant, hotels, clubs, billiard tables, houses, and then there's the—" He explained, continuing on despite the glare Primo shot at him. Sighing, Giotto eventually gave up, deciding that he would just ask him about it later on.

When he's about to continue eating though, G asked, growling lowly as his voice echoed through the room. "Why do you always destroy public properties on whatever mission you're given anyway, idiot?" Chuckling darkly, Daemon glared at him and gave him a small mischievous smile. "What could I do? Those public properties are just too easy to break after all~ and I'm not an idiot, idiot," he retorted.

"Maa maa~ there's no need to fight now, is there? Let's just eat the breakfast for now~" Asari said cheerfully, trying to lighten up the atmosphere that had somehow turned gloomy. "Asari is ultimately right! We shouldn't fight with each other right now; or at all in fact! God wouldn't be pleased if the two of you fight to the ultimate!" Knuckle joined in, causing everyone to wince from the volume, with the exception of Alaude though.

"Yare, yare~ seems like it's going to get chaotic soon…" Lampo said, putting down his spoon and fork before sitting up straight, getting ready to hide under the table if needed. "Hn," Alaude responded simply. It has become way too common for everyone in the family; there would most probably be a fight or a ruckus whenever the guardians and Primo gathered together.

"What did you say, you bastard?!" G suddenly shouted amidst the whispers of the other guardians. "Nufufufu~ I just said that there were some people who were injured during the destruction in the city just now," the mist guardian answered with a shrug. "Nothing too serious though~"

"What were you thinking, you idiot?! We're supposed to be a vigilante group who helps people, not hurting them!" G shouted, clearly annoyed at the fact that Daemon had hurt another group of civilians yet again. "But it's nothing serious and my subordinates had taken care of their injury," Daemon retorted back, not accepting the fact that he was the one at fault here.

Meanwhile, at the end of the table, Primo could practically feel his head grew heavier, his vision getting blurry from time to time due to the dizziness he felt since just now; and the guardians' arguments didn't help it either. Closing his eyes, he put his hand on the table, pressing it against his forehead in an attempt to clear the dizziness away.

After a few minutes, with the guardians still arguing, he finally realized that it almost had no effect to the feeling other than making it better slightly. Letting out another sigh, the blonde looked up just in time to hear about the hurt civilians. Civilians. They were supposed to protect them, no?

But the Vongola ended up hurting a lot of them, especially whenever Alaude and Daemon were the ones sent for the mission. No matter if they did the mission separately or together, the destruction would still pretty much be the same. Even Knuckle sometimes destroyed public properties with the reason "there were people who wanted to distract people from God's teachings to the ultimate!" And of course, G was included in the properties' destructions' criminals.

Lowering his head slowly, the Vongola boss almost couldn't feel anything before the dizziness overwhelmed him as he drifted off into darkness. The last thing he heard was a soft thud, which was soon followed with the panicked voices of his guardians calling out his name.

-o-o-o-

The bright sunlight coming from Giotto's bedroom's window was the thing that woke him up. How many times had passed? Minutes… Hours… Days…? Groaning softly, Giotto put an arm over his face to cover his eyes from the bright light. He blinked several times before looking around; someone must have brought him here after he fainted during the breakfast.

It only took him a few moments before his eyes widened in realization. Frozen on his spot, he stared wide-eyed at the figure leaning against the corner wall. The figure diverted his gaze from the book he was reading as he looked back at the young mafia boss; a simple sigh escaping his lips as he closed the small book and put it in his inner pocket.

"Hn?" he questioned as he raised an eyebrow, curious as to why Giotto was staring at him as if he was seeing a ghost. "…A-Alaude…?" Giotto asked, disbelief written all over his face as he stared at his emotionless cloud Guardian. "W-Why are you here…?" Stuttering over his own words, he mentally slapped himself for asking such a stupid question.

"Hn. I need to talk to you," Alaude said, walking towards the sky guardian before sitting on the chair beside his bed, edging away as much as possible to avoid the 'crowd', which simply consisted of Giotto actually. '…What have I done-' he thought helplessly, though his face never disclose his true emotions. It's never good whenever Alaude wanted to 'talk' with him. Never. Did he do anything wrong? Did he stalk him just like how Daemon did? Did he annoy him just like how Daemon did? Did he threat him with blackmail just like how Daemon did? Did he—Oh wait. Why did all of the bad things come from Daemon?

Shaking his head, Giotto turned back only to see the cold glare from Alaude. Wincing from the intensity, he let out a shaky laugh as he asked, "A-Aha, what is it, Alaude?" Leaning back on his chair, the cloud guardian cocked his head to the side as he took out a folded paper from his inner pocket, handing it to Giotto soon after.

Raising his eyebrow in confusion, Giotto took the paper and opened it in curiosity. Blink. Once. Twice. Staring back at the cloud guardian, he extended his hand, intending to give the paper back to him. "Rejected," Giotto said firmly.

Glaring at the boss, Alaude simply snatched the paper from the other blonde and crossed his arms defiantly. "Why?" he asked in his usual manner. Giotto heaved a sigh at the reply; of course Alaude was going to ask him that. His cloud guardian wasn't a person who'd accept rejection so easily.

"Well, firstly, I'm not going to be there. Second, it's dangerous," he answered, crossing his arms as he lay back again on his bed. It wasn't that he didn't trust his guardian's strength, he knew that Alaude was strong; of course he knew. But it's just that naivety that G had always bugged him about that got in the way again this time; he was simply worried about Alaude's safety.

Alaude twitched as he heard the reasons given to him. Was he underestimating him? Wasn't he strong enough? True, the meeting that he was going to attend tomorrow was a meeting with the strongest family outside the alliance, not to mention that they were also known as 'cunning'; yet it was Giotto's fault for asking him to come with him to the meeting, bribing him with the fact that they were strong.

While on the other hand, Giotto simply asked for Alaude because he was the strongest guardian he had. No matter how aloof Alaude was, but he still did his job perfectly and he was a responsible man. He didn't mean to bribe Alaude like that, but that's the only thing that could possibly made Alaude to have the will to go with him.

"Not accepted," Alaude stated as he stood up, leaving the currently fragile boss, ignoring all of the protests coming from the blonde who told him not to go to the meeting without him. _'I will still go there anyway…' _the platinum blond man thought as he made his way out of the room; his eyes narrowed slightly as he remembered about the research he had done a few days ago.

~o~O~o~

A droplet of water dropping onto the hard cold stone beside him snapped him out of his reverie. Looking around, he went back to the present. It wasn't long before light started to flood into the probable torture chamber. Squinting his eyes at the sudden brightness, he tried to see the man coming into the room.

A bulky man with black suits came into the room, followed by some smaller men with weapons in their hands; probably his subordinates. Walking steadily to Alaude, he stopped a few steps away from the blonde.

"Vongola Primo's cloud Guardian," the bulky man announced. "We would like to talk to you for a while," a subordinate said after. Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, Alaude stayed at his place. Talk? Sure, as long as they didn't crowd around him. He didn't like a lot of people being at the same place at once. Those kinds of people were weaklings.

Snorting in reply, Alaude leaned back, waiting for them to start the 'talk'. The bulky man then stepped forward, sitting down so that he was on the same eye level as Alaude, which made the blonde a bit confused; it wasn't common for a mafia member to be so friendly, let alone outside of the Vongola's alliance.

"We just need you to do a favor for us," he stated. "Since you're one of his guardians, you are one of Vongola Primo's weak points," another subordinate then continued. Alaude's glare had intensified at this; Vongola Primo's weak points? So they're going to use him to go against Vongola?

"Kill him. Kill Vongola Primo," the leader spitted out. His gaze had turned to one with malice by now; what could the Primo have done to gain these kinds of enemies anyway? Stifling back a smirk, Alaude looked down in an attempt to hide his expression. What? He wasn't the type to let his emotions to be seen clearly.

Buzzing noises could be heard as the subordinates started to talk amongst themselves, fearing about the cloud guardian's answer. After all, Alaude was the strongest guardian; and when he was angry, he could probably destroy them all at once. That question was a sensitive topic, so he could be angry anytime, or so they thought. Their leader, on the other hand, was calm, staring into those icy blue eyes as he waited patiently for his answer.

"Rejected," Alaude finally said after a few minutes of silence, still looking down at the wet ground below him. The bulky man soon intensified his glare, stamping his foot on the ground in annoyance.

"You can do so many things without him. He is a burden. A hindrance. A stone in your way. Eliminate him, and you can be greater and stronger than you already are," the leader said, trying to influence him to do the favor. "Say, cloud Guardian, don't you think so?"

Meanwhile, the cloud guardian just looked down, hiding his eyes with his bangs, his expression unreadable as various memories ran through his mind.

~o~O~o~

Laughs and giggles could be heard in the living room of the orphanage where Alaude lived. Curious, the ten-year-old Alaude walked into the crowded living room, staying at his place near the door, not wanting to go in nor talking to the crowd at all.

"Have you heard? Someone's going to come and see us! May be they would adopt us!" One of the girls said cheerfully to her friend, who immediately nodded and laughed blissfully; the hope of being adopted written all over her face.

Frowning, Alaude walked back to his room. Someone? Someone was going to come here? This place was already crowded enough as it was; he didn't need anyone else coming here anymore. Well, at least if that person _did_ adopt one of them, then this place would be less crowded.

Throwing himself on his bed, Alaude curled into a ball, burying himself amidst all of the pillows and blanket as he stared out of the window. He wasn't going to meet them; not at all.

-o-o-o-

"They're here!" A boy, probably around five years old, shouted enthusiastically as he stared out of the window. The other children soon ran to the window, staring in awe at the sight of an expensive car outside their little poor orphanage. Alaude though, stayed away from the crowd, edging away as much as possible while trying to see the car too.

As soon as he saw the people going out though, he immediately went to his room, locking his door soon after. He wasn't going to meet them, he definitely wouldn't meet them. He didn't want to and no one could force him to meet them.

As he heard the 'click' of the door being closed, he sat on his bed, hugging the pillow close to his chest as he tried to ignore all of the happy shouts and laughs coming from downstairs. Why were they so happy about being adopted? That meant that they're going to be taken away from the orphanage right? Wasn't this orphanage comfy already when there weren't a lot of people around?

_In the afternoon | 1:00 P.M._

"Alaude! Lunch's ready~"The voice of the orphanage owner could be heard from outside Alaude's room. Closing the book he was reading, the platinum blonde stared at the door blankly, trying to hear the other children's laughs and giggles. If there were some, then that meant that those people who were going to adopt them were still there.

Noticing the small giggles and chuckles, Alaude looked down at the floor as he let out a sigh. "Later," he answered the owner, getting an 'okay' as a reply. Walking towards the bookshelves, Alaude put the book back to its place. Amongst every child in the orphanage, it was only Alaude who got to have bookshelves in his room; all because of his love to read and study.

Alaude was about to take another book when a small figure appeared on the balcony outside his room. Glaring at the intruder, Alaude turned around to see the person clearly. He simply narrowed his eyes, his grip on the book he was about to take tightening as he asked suspiciously; "Who are you?"

A warm smile spread on the intruder's face as he stepped into the room. He had spiky golden blonde hair and warm orange-colored eyes; definitely too naïve-looking to be an intruder or the sort. He couldn't be more that 8 years old, really. He chuckled softly as he gripped the window sill as his support.

"Wow, I actually managed to climb this up," he said as an amused smile appeared on his face. "My name is Giotto, nice to meet you!" he then continued with a laugh. Alaude twitched as he glared harder at this 'Giotto'. Why was he here anyway? Was this any way of visiting an orphanage? "Why are you here?" Alaude asked coldly; no, he wasn't going to forgive this child so easily for just barging into his room.

"Ahh… That's because your room is the easiest to be climbed from the ground~ I'm curious about the commotion outside, yet the owner won't let me in…" Giotto said, pouting for a while before smiling again. Stepping onto Alaude's bedroom floor, the younger boy froze for a while at the cold emotionless voice.

"Get out," a cold voice ran through Giotto's spine as he saw Alaude taking out something which looked like... encyclopedia? As the book was thrown to his face, the younger boy let out a small shriek as he evaded it barely. "What—" Giotto asked to himself as another book was thrown at his direction.

"S-Stop it!" He yelled, evading the books and dictionaries flying everywhere. Meanwhile, Alaude simply stared at him, taking out another thick book one after another. He wasn't going to stop before this kid went out, definitely. This was his room after all; and this was no way of meeting someone, especially stranger.

Soon after though, a shout resounded outside the orphanage. "Oi Giotto! Where are you?" Stopping his attacks for a while, the platinum blonde stood straight before glaring at the window. Who was here now?

Gripping Giotto's collar, Alaude dragged the younger child to the window before opening it again and practically threw him outside. A red-haired child soon came into view and crashed the small blonde that he had thrown outside. Raising his eyebrow, icy blue eyes glared at the other child. Where did all of these brats come from?

"So you're here!" The red-head shouted, the relief on his face being washed over with angriness just a few seconds after. Backing away slightly to prevent himself from being half-deaf, Giotto pouted as an attempt to calm his friend down, though of course, it didn't work.

"Stop shouting, G…" he said in the end, resulting in his friend letting out a small 'tch' as a reply. Diverting his gaze to the blonde figure near the orphanage's window, his gaze intensified slightly. "Giotto… Who's this?" G asked as he stared at his childhood friend, pointing his thumb at Alaude.

Alaude's vein popped as he stared at the two of them; what annoying brats. Snorting, he turned away from them, slamming the window shut right in front of them; though he could perfectly hear what Giotto was saying before he closed the window.

.

.

.

.

.

"_Um… I don't know his name, but anyway, he's my friend!"_

~o~O~o~

"So, what do you think…? …Cloud guardian?" The leader asked once more as he hadn't got an answer for minutes. Finally looking up, icy blue eyes stared at the others' brown-colored eyes, an amused smirk playing on his lips as he spoke.

"It is true that Vongola Primo is a hindrance. He is just another weakling who cares too much about others," Alaude said before he opened his mouth again to say something. Meanwhile, all the other enemies looked at him in expectation. He's seriously going to accept their request so easily?

"But you should never underestimate him… Or me for that matter," he said coldly, a glint of hatred obvious in his eyes as an emergency alarm went off. Looking around in panic, the subordinates started to step back; while their leader simply stood up. "What happened?" He asked, demanding for an answer right away.

As if on cue, a tall, well-built man soon came through the door, letting the light to come into the room once more. "There are intruders, boss!" He reported. Alaude just smirked at this; he had expected this to happen soon anyway.

~o~O~o~

"_Do what you want, Alaude. We'll catch up with you later on, I guess," Giotto had said, sighing as Alaude walked out through his bedroom door._

~o~O~o~

"Never underestimate him," the platinum blonde-haired man said suddenly, surprising some of the subordinates around him. The bulky man simply narrowed his eyes, letting out a 'tch' as he started to walk towards the door.

Alaude scoffed before letting out a soft smile, hidden from everyone else beneath his bangs. It was true; he would never admit it, but Vongola Primo was a hindrance; his weakness. But…

'I'm satisfied with the current me,' he thought, looking up at the ceiling above him.

'_My weakness is my strength…'_

-o-o-o-

"Don't move or else," the older male threatened as he brought a knife dangerously close to Giotto's neck. Tearing up, the nine-year-old boy whimpered slightly. He didn't want Alaude to get hurt because of him, but it seemed like Alaude would never understand his true intentions.

Glaring at the man in front of him, Alaude stayed still. What an annoying brat, he thought; even after a year of being with him, his thoughts about him still hadn't changed… right? He's a weakling and a crybaby. He always seemed so… fragile. His trains of thoughts though were soon cut off as the older male shouted at him.

"Oi, brat! Stop daydreaming or I'll cut his head off!" He yelled, grazing Giotto's neck with the knife just slightly, letting a drop of his blood to trail down the sharp part of the knife. At this, Alaude had snapped.

Charging forward, he forgot everything about the threat from just now. In an inhuman speed for a child, he lunged at the bulky man. He then said in his usual cold, calm voice.

"_Try to kill him then."_

A thud soon followed his sentence as the bulky man fall to the ground behind him, unconscious.

-o-o-o-

'_My confidence is not arrogance,'_

-o-o-o-

"Don't go there, Alaude~" Giotto pleaded as he tugged onto the other's shirt. "It's dangerous…" He said, looking down as he looked away from Alaude's glare. He was always so brave, so strong, so… arrogant?

Pulling his arm off of Giotto's grip easily, Alaude walked forward. "If you're scared, leave," he said as he stormed away. Why was that brat so annoying anyway? Why did he care so much for him? He didn't even care about him, no? Why should he do something so useless?

Stopping midway, Alaude turned back, only to see Giotto's back facing him. He seemed… worried? Letting out an almost inaudible sigh, Alaude turned back, continuing on his way to the abandoned storage room.

"I'll be fine," he said confidently, hoping that it would somehow cheer up the younger boy.

Unknown to him, Giotto had turned around as he finished saying it. Teary golden orbs stared at Alaude's back before a smile graced his lips.

'…I'll believe in you, Alaude,'

-o-o-o-

'_My tough shell is easily broken,'_

-o-o-o-

11 P.M.

It was night time already, yet the fourteen-year-old Giotto still couldn't sleep. It had been a long day and the memory of his friends' death still haunted him; even until now. Starting from a few days after his thirteenth birthday, bullies and mafia families had started to invade his village, killing off everyone who got in their way of threatening other people.

Shutting his eyes closed, he squirmed slightly in his bed; even the screams were still ringing in his ears. After a few minutes, he finally had enough. Getting up from his bed, the boy rubbed his eyes sleepily. Alaude should be in the room next to him right? Giotto and his newly-formed guardians had decided to live together since a few weeks ago; only because it would be dangerous for them to live separately from each others.

Walking out from his room, the blonde walked towards Alaude's room. He knew that he'd probably be tortured by him just in case he woke up and found him there, but he'd take the risk anyway; even though all that he wanted to do was simply to take some of the earplugs in Alaude's drawer, which he always use whenever he was reading a book or concentrating in something; probably he could fall asleep sooner if he couldn't hear anything anymore.

Soon, Giotto opened the door slightly, peeking through the small gap between the door and the wall. Alaude was on his bed, sleeping peacefully with his fingers intertwining each other on his chest. Smiling softly, the younger blonde stepped in, careful not to make any sound that could wake Alaude up.

As he came nearer to Alaude though, he noticed something. Though it had dried and was barely visible on his pale cheeks, there was a glint of… tears? Giotto's mind went blank for a brief moment before he shook his head. He just couldn't believe that Alaude had been crying to sleep. It was true that he never had the chance or the courage to see how he sleep or anything, but he had never expected him to, even once, cry to sleep; but he could understand why.

Taking a quick glance at his still asleep cloud guardian, he pulled out the hidden photo beneath all of his other files. It was an old photo; a photo of him, looking cold and intimidating as usual, with his little sister, who was smiling brightly at the camera, standing side by side. It was an adorable picture, really; to imagine his aloof cloud guardian standing so close to someone, even if she was his own little sister. He could understand why he treasured her so much. Unknown to everyone other than himself and Alaude, today was the commemoration of that girl's death seven years ago.

The soon-to-be mafia boss put the picture back to its original place, turning around to face Alaude once more. Smiling softly, his gaze warmed up at the figure in front of him; if only they had made the vigilante group seven years ago…

Patting the older male's hair gently, he bent down to Alaude's eye level. "It's been hard on you, Alaude," he whispered before standing up again. Deciding that it's not the best time to steal one of Alaude's earplugs, he rushed out of the door, oblivious to the icy blue eyes staring at his back.

-o-o-o-

'_My strength is an illusion,'_

-o-o-o-

A drop of sweat rolled down Alaude's cheek as he continued to train in the training room specially made for him. Panting slightly, the male looked down at the ground.

Stronger, stronger, he had to become stronger; to become stronger than anyone else, to be able to defeat everyone in his way, to be able to protect his loved ones,

… and to be able to survive in this cruel reality around him.

-o-o-o-

'_My bravery is never foolish,'_

-o-o-o-

"Oi, are you an idiot?!" G had shouted at him, grabbing his shoulder to stop him in his tracks. "Let go," Alaude said stubbornly. The both of them had grown so much since their childhood, but it seemed that it was still not enough for these kinds of little fights to come to an absolute stop.

Glaring slightly at the Cloud guardian, G let go of the blonde. "You can't fight them alone," he stated firmly. Really now, how could he just go the enemy's base and annihilate them all by himself? Was he crazy?

It's true that the family he's going to annihilate had been causing troubles for the Vongola and the discipline around the area, but Primo had gone to their base to start a negotiation, which they sincerely hoped, would succeed. They might be the strongest mafia family around the area, but the family they're dealing with was quite strong as well; at least, they couldn't be underestimated.

So, what's the problem here? Why did Alaude want to go and annihilate them so much? Letting out a 'tch', Alaude walked forward, followed by G, of course, who tried to stop him from going to the enemy's base alone. Getting annoyed, the blonde stopped and turned around, glaring at the equally stubborn red-head behind him.

"I'll be fine," he stated, taking out some folded papers from his inner pocket before handing it to G, who hesitantly accepted it. "Read it," Alaude said for one last time before disappearing into the forest in front of the mansion.

Sighing, G flipped through the pages, his eyes widening in shock at the information contained in them. How did Alaude manage to get this information? On the papers, it was written; everything from their plan to destroy the Vongola until their plan to kill Vongola Primo himself. Dumbfounded by the data, G furrowed his eyebrows, worry and concern obvious in his eyes as he ran a finger through his hair. Even to him, it was unknown; whether Alaude cared for the Vongola, the Primo, or it was just simply his desire to fight that caused him to be like this.

-o-o-o-

'_My compassion spreads hope,'_

-o-o-o-

"We can't do this, Primo," Lampo said as he hid behind one of the trees, whimpering as he heard the bullet being fired. The Primo and his guardians, now twenty-year-old in average, had been chased from the Vongola HQ thanks to the surprise attack from the Pericordio family; the guards had been a bit careless, it seemed.

An explosion was soon heard from the HQ's direction. They had evacuated, along with the members who had gone their separate ways, but some of them got kidnapped and taken as hostages. Lowering his head, the Primo thought of a way to get out from the situation. They definitely couldn't attack the Pericordio since there were hostages in their hands; but if they didn't attack, then the Vongola would be destroyed soon.

"Nufufufu~ I'd say to go attack them right now," Daemon said, breaking off the tensed silence that had been going on for a few minutes by now. "Tch, you think it's that easy?" G spitted out, earning a glare from the illusionist in front of him and even more silence than before. "We can't just attack them so easily…" Asari commented as he rubbed his chin absent-mindedly.

"We can," Alaude said, his cold voice piercing through the cold air around them. "What are you saying—" G retorted, turning around only to see the cloud guardian running towards the HQ's direction. "Is that guy an idiot?!" He shouted before running after him, intending to stop Alaude's reckless act.

Before he could take more than two steps though, he was stopped when the Primo suddenly grabbed his shoulder. Shaking his head, Giotto stood up straight; golden orbs met crimson ones as he spoke. "We can do it," he said firmly.

"What are you on about, Primo?! If we don't stop him, then-!" G yelled, hoping that Giotto would soon realize what he said just now; but Giotto just let go of G's shoulder, turning around to face the other guardians.

He understood completely; years of living together with Alaude had paid off, it seemed. Smiling slightly, he started to give out the orders. "G, go to the mansion from the south. Asari, go from the west. Knuckle, go from the north. Lampo, go from the southwest. Daemon, you can go from the northwest. I will aid Alaude by going to the northeast," he commanded, his voice authoritative.

"But Primo! Such a simple plan like that is—" G's sentence was cut off as Giotto smiled at him; his eyes clearly showing his confidence.

"_Alaude said that we can do it,"_

~o~O~o~

As soon as the bulky man opened the door, shouts and screams could be heard from outside. Small rocks and dust started to fly into the room as another explosion went off. "Who is it?!" the man shouted at the probable intruder.

Thuds of people dropping unconscious grew more in response before a familiar figure emerge from the smoke. Sharp golden eyes glared at the bulky man and his subordinates before they, as well, dropped unconscious. They weren't the family's boss or trusted members, of course; but they didn't need to know. They weren't here to annihilate the family after all. It was simply to rescue Alaude.

Opening the door to the torture chamber wider, Giotto sighed in relief as his cloud guardian came into view. Walking on the uneven stone paths inside, he finally reached the place where Alaude was.

Smiling warmly despite the cold glare Alaude gave him, he melted the handcuffs, careful not to burn the older male's skin accidentally. Once he was free of the handcuffs, Alaude rubbed his wrists for a while before looking back up at his boss, only to see a hand offered to him.

Snorting at the offer, Alaude looked away, causing Giotto to sigh almost immediately. Well, he had expected this to happen anyway; there's no way Alaude would accept his offer no matter how much he needed it. When he was about to retract his hand though, he flinched slightly at the coldness emitted from the older male's hand when it made contact with his own.

Staring with disbelief at the sight of Alaude's hand in his, he diverted his gaze to his cloud guardian, whose face was mostly hidden beneath his bangs.

"I've been waiting," he said, his expression unreadable as he stood up slowly, holding onto the cold hard wall as support. Smiling softly, Giotto squeezed Alaude's hand gently as he led him out of the room.

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"_Come; let's get out of here, Alaude,"_

A/N: Hiiiii, everyone! I'm alive! ;w; Firstly, I hope that you enjoyed this little one-shot from me. This one-shot that had been requested by **celestial-ways-of-life**a loooooooonggggg time ago. Sorry, I just had a huge writer block orz And I'm going to be more active now as well, since my finals are finished! I hope that I'll be able to make fanfics satisfying enough for you guys~ But for now, that is all~ Ciao ciao~!


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